An Introduction To The Chakras
A chakra is an energy center in the human body that receives, processes and transmits information about particular aspects of being and experience. The Sanskrit word “chakra” literally means “wheel,” which is an apt name for these energy portals since they rotate in a circular fashion just like a wheel. It helps to think of the chakras as revolving doors between the human body and the outside world.
The chakras are created by currents of energy that are continually moving in the three dimensions of 3-D reality while interacting with the areas on the body that are most concentrated with nerve ganglia. There are six different currents — one “positive” and one “negative” for each of the three dimensions of physical reality.
So we have these polar opposite currents that create the swirling movement of the chakras in the body:
Upward-Downward Current (Liberating and Manifesting Currents)
Front-Back Current (Future & Past Currents)
Right-Left Current (Active & Receptive Currents)
As all of these currents move in and out of the bodily areas of the most concentrated nerve gangia, they create a swirling vortex that look quite a lot like DNA — in fact, it’s quite possible that our DNA is a microscopic representation of our larger energy field. Another great visual analogy is the caduceus that the medical field uses as their symbol.
As the energy moves upward and downward in a swirling fashion, it makes one full rotation for each chakra so that the front body chakras typically spin clockwise (“masculine”) and the back body chakras typically spin counter-clockwise (“feminine”).
In the most commonly accepted chakra model, the seven main bodily chakras are:
1st Chakra – Tailbone – Red – “Muladhara”
2nd Chakra – Sacral – Orange – “Svadisthana”
3rd Chakra – Solar Plexus – Yellow – “Manipura”
4th Chakra – Heart – Green – “Anahata”
5th Chakra – Throat – Blue – “Visuddha”
6th Chakra – 3rd Eye – Indigo – “Ajna”
7th Chakra – Crown – Violet – “Sahasrara”
The seventh chakra resides outside the body at the crown and facilitates complete union with the Universal Life Force, and therefore, is not related to the physical realm or any of the dualities of earth. It’s like a portal to pure spiritual essence.
The six bodily chakras however, relate quite clearly to the physical body, and have an elegant and harmonious, masculine-feminine (yang-yin) organization. “Masculine” as used here, is archetypal and refers to that which is firm, steady and self-contained, while “feminine” refers to that which is soft, yielding and expansive. Also, masculine energy tends to relate to and affect the external world, while feminine energy tends to relate to and affect one’s internal world.
This interweaving of energies up-and-down the energy channel of the spine aids balanced integration of the masculine and feminine energies in every person, regardless of gender. We are basically set up for energetic balance.
Here is a general description of the characteristics of all the chakras, along with suggestions on how to balance them. As you read about each chakra, consider its masculine or feminine nature.
Click here to see a general description of each of the chakras.